(a)Coverage of entire MA region. The service area for an MA regional plan will consist of an entire MA region established under paragraph (b) of this section, and an MA region may not be segmented as described in § 422.262(c)(2).

(b)Establishment of MA regions—

(1)MA region. The term “MA region” means a region within the 50 States and the District of Columbia as established by CMS under this section.

(2)Establishment—

(i)Initial establishment. By January 1, 2005, CMS will establish and publish the MA regions.

(ii)Periodic review and revision of service areas. CMS may periodically review MA regions and may revise the regions if it determines the revision to be appropriate.

(3)Requirements for MA regions. CMS will establish, and may revise, MA regions in a manner consistent with the following:

(i)Number of regions. There will be no fewer than 10 regions, and no more than 50 regions.

(ii)Maximizing availability of plans. The main purpose of the regions is to maximize the availability of MA regional plans to all MA eligible individuals without regard to health status, or geographic location, especially those residing in rural areas.

(4)Market survey and analysis. Before establishing MA regions, CMS will conduct a market survey and analysis, including an examination of current insurance markets, to assist CMS in determining how the regions should be established.

(c)National plan. An MA regional plan can be offered in more than one MA region (including all regions).

Title 42 published on 2014-10-01

The following are only the Rules published in the Federal Register after the published date of Title 42.

For a complete list of all Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices view the Rulemaking tab.

Effective Date: This document is effective February 24, 2015. Applicability Date: The corrections noted in this document and posted on the CMS Web site are applicable to payments for services furnished on or after January 1, 2015.

42 CFR Parts 411, 412, 416, 419, 422, 423, and 424

Summary

This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the final rule with comment period published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2014, entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Physician-Owned Hospitals: Data Sources for Expansion Exception; Physician Certification of Inpatient Hospital Services; Medicare Advantage Organizations and Part D Sponsors: CMS-Identified Overpayments Associated with Submitted Payment Data.”

This rule is effective March 16, 2015, except amendments to § 423.154, which are effective January 1, 2016. Applicability Dates: Except as specified in Table 1, the applicability date of these provisions is January 1, 2016. In the Supplemental section of this final rule, we provide a table (Table 1) that lists changes in this final rule that have either an effective date other than March 16, 2015 or an applicability date other than January 1, 2016, for Contract Year 2016.

Effective Date: This final rule with comment period is effective on January 1, 2015. Comment Period: To be assured consideration, comments on the payment classifications assigned to HCPCS codes identified in Addenda B, AA, and BB to this final rule with comment period with the “NI” comment indicator, and on other areas specified throughout this final rule with comment period must be received at one of the addresses provided in the ADDRESSES section no later than 5 p.m. EST on December 30, 2014. Application Deadline—New Class of New Technology Intraocular Lenses: Requests for review of applications for a new class of new technology intraocular lenses must be received by 5 p.m. EST on March 2, 2015, at the following address: ASC/NTIOL, Division of Outpatient Care, Mailstop C4-05-17, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.

42 CFR Parts 411, 412, 416, 419, 422, 423, and 424

Summary

This final rule with comment period revises the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and the Medicare ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment system for CY 2015 to implement applicable statutory requirements and changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems. In this final rule with comment period, we describe the changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the payment rates for Medicare services paid under the OPPS and those paid under the ASC payment system. In addition, this final rule with comment period updates and refines the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program and the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program. In this document, we also are making changes to the data sources permitted for expansion requests for physician-owned hospitals under the physician self-referral regulations; changes to the underlying authority for the requirement of an admission order for all hospital inpatient admissions and changes to require physician certification for hospital inpatient admissions only for long-stay cases and outlier cases; and changes to establish a formal process, including a three-level appeals process, to recoup overpayments that result from the submission of erroneous payment data by Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations and Part D sponsors in the limited circumstances in which the organization or sponsor fails to correct these data.

Effective Date: This document is effective February 24, 2015. Applicability Date: The corrections noted in this document and posted on the CMS Web site are applicable to payments for services furnished on or after January 1, 2015.

42 CFR Parts 411, 412, 416, 419, 422, 423, and 424

Summary

This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the final rule with comment period published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2014, entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Physician-Owned Hospitals: Data Sources for Expansion Exception; Physician Certification of Inpatient Hospital Services; Medicare Advantage Organizations and Part D Sponsors: CMS-Identified Overpayments Associated with Submitted Payment Data.”

This rule is effective March 16, 2015, except amendments to § 423.154, which are effective January 1, 2016. Applicability Dates: Except as specified in Table 1, the applicability date of these provisions is January 1, 2016. In the Supplemental section of this final rule, we provide a table (Table 1) that lists changes in this final rule that have either an effective date other than March 16, 2015 or an applicability date other than January 1, 2016, for Contract Year 2016.

Effective Date: This final rule with comment period is effective on January 1, 2015. Comment Period: To be assured consideration, comments on the payment classifications assigned to HCPCS codes identified in Addenda B, AA, and BB to this final rule with comment period with the “NI” comment indicator, and on other areas specified throughout this final rule with comment period must be received at one of the addresses provided in the ADDRESSES section no later than 5 p.m. EST on December 30, 2014. Application Deadline—New Class of New Technology Intraocular Lenses: Requests for review of applications for a new class of new technology intraocular lenses must be received by 5 p.m. EST on March 2, 2015, at the following address: ASC/NTIOL, Division of Outpatient Care, Mailstop C4-05-17, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.

42 CFR Parts 411, 412, 416, 419, 422, 423, and 424

Summary

This final rule with comment period revises the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and the Medicare ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment system for CY 2015 to implement applicable statutory requirements and changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems. In this final rule with comment period, we describe the changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the payment rates for Medicare services paid under the OPPS and those paid under the ASC payment system. In addition, this final rule with comment period updates and refines the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program and the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program. In this document, we also are making changes to the data sources permitted for expansion requests for physician-owned hospitals under the physician self-referral regulations; changes to the underlying authority for the requirement of an admission order for all hospital inpatient admissions and changes to require physician certification for hospital inpatient admissions only for long-stay cases and outlier cases; and changes to establish a formal process, including a three-level appeals process, to recoup overpayments that result from the submission of erroneous payment data by Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations and Part D sponsors in the limited circumstances in which the organization or sponsor fails to correct these data.